Mary Bissell

The Virginia Tech massacre raises questions that may never be answered. Even in the insolubility of this week's events, however, one thing is clear: Cho Seung-Hui was a very sick young man.

No one deserves an explanation to the questions this tragedy raises more than the victims and their families. One question we all should be asking: Is America serious about the mental health of its young people?

America's young people face a mental health… more

The annual release of the Child Well-Being Index (CWI) provides a research-based look at the status of children in the United States over 30 years. The CWI is commissioned by the Foundation for Child Development and provides policymakers and the public with a tool to monitor the well-being of children nationwide.

The data cut through the headlines and conventional wisdom to offer a multi-faceted portrait of the quality of life of our children. The index addresses questions such as… more

Nationwide, methamphetamine, or “meth,” is devastating children, families, and the child welfare agencies that serve them. Adding to the crisis is the widespread misconception that meth addiction is untreatable. This myth not only hurts children and families, but makes it even more difficult for child welfare agencies to secure the government resources and community supports necessary to address it.

In collaboration with law enforcement, business, and the media, however, child welfare agencies are learning more than ever about new partnerships, tools,… more

Former Fellow

Mary Bissell is an attorney and an expert on a variety of policy issues affecting children and families, particularly child welfare issues. She formerly worked as an attorney and lobbyist at the Children’s Defense Fund and as a legislative assistant in the office of Sen. John D. Rockefeller IV (D-WV).… more

What prevents the U.S. child welfare system from doing all it can to protect children and support families? Complex social problems? Insufficient funding? Staff turnover? The truth is, the inability to address these barriers is rooted in a much larger problem--a chronic lack of public will. Despite its best efforts, child welfare faces daunting challenges in making policymakers and the public understand and commit to fixing the system.

Child welfare agencies and service providers rarely have the time, expertise, or… more

Before it became a celebration of summer's end, Labor Day was a symbol of reform--a time, said labor activist Samuel Gompers, to discuss rights and wrongs and make the worker 'stronger for it.' In the true spirit of the holiday, Americans who care about children and families should first resolve to improve the imperiled state of the nation's child-welfare workers.

Sensational cases of child abuse and neglect have kept the spotlight on the failures of state child-welfare agencies… more

So boy, don't you turn back. Don't you set down on the steps ‘Cause you finds it's kinder hard. Don't you fall now -- For I'se still goin', honey, I'se still climbin', And life for me ain't been no crystal stair. --"Mother to Son," Langston Hughes

Family, with all its strengths and complexities, is a cornerstone of American culture. For generations, grandparents and other relatives have stepped forward to raise children… more

In the basement of D.C. Superior Court, Magistrate Judge Juliet McKenna sits next to Tiffany, a 19-year-old ward of the foster-care system.

"How about H&M?" McKenna asks. "It's a hip store and easy to get to."

Tiffany's lawyer, social worker, "life skills" coach and an attorney representing D.C. Child and Family Services are at the table while McKenna goes over the list of stores accepting city clothing vouchers.

Given the challenges facing the District's child welfare system, clothes… more

David and Carolyn Wells raised their children, sent them to college and saved up for retirement. But this hardworking Knoxville couple never imagined having to raise their grandchildren. They knew their son and daughter-in-law were struggling. And they worried that their granddaughters weren't getting proper care. When the child welfare agency threatened to step in, however, there was only one choice. At 51, they became parents once again.

"It was a nightmare at first," explains Carolyn, now 62. "Both children… more

It wouldn't be the holiday shopping season without schmaltzy commercials, mall Santas, and Halo 2, the most hotly anticipated video game in American entertainment history. Expected to gross $80 million, this "shoot-'em-up" sensation may not change the world, but it could help put the compassion back into conservatism with a financial boost for chronically under-funded domestic policy programs.

The Bush administration has talked a good game about supporting federal programs designed to keep kids safe from abuse and neglect, drugs, gun… more